Synopses & Reviews
In the popular imagination, public housing tenants are considered, at best, victims of intractable poverty and, at worst, criminals. More Than Shelter makes clear that such limited perspectives do not capture the rich reality of tenantsandrsquo; active engagement in shaping public housing into communities. By looking closely at three public housing projects in San Francisco, Amy L. Howard brings to light the dramatic measures tenants have taken to createandmdash;and sustain and strengthenandmdash;communities that mattered to them.
More Than Shelter opens with the tumultuous institutional history of the San Francisco Housing Authority, from its inception during the New Deal era, through its repeated leadership failures, to its attempts to boost its credibility in the 1990s. Howard then turns to Valencia Gardens in the Mission District; built in 1943, the project became a perpetually contested and embattled space. Within that space, tenants came together in what Howard calls affective activismandmdash;activism focused on intentional relationships and community building that served to fortify residents in the face of shared challenges. Such activism also fueled cross-sector coalition building at Ping Yuen in Chinatown, bringing tenants and organizations together to advocate for and improve public housing. The account of their experience breaks new ground in highlighting the diversity of public housing in more ways than one. The experience of North Beach Place in turn raises questions about the politics of development and redevelopment, in this case, Howard examines activism across generationsandmdash;first by African Americans seeking to desegregate public housing, then by cross-racial and cross-ethnic tenant groups mobilizing to maintain public housing in the shadow of gentrification.
Taken together, the stories Howard tells challenge assumptions about public housing and its tenantsandmdash;and make way for a broader, more productive and inclusive vision of the public housing program in the United States.
Review
andquot;With an eye toward the West, and San Francisco in paritcular, this book enriches our knowledge of public housing, particularly policy debates andandmdash;laudablyandmdash;working-class people's lived experiences and interactions with the State.andquot; andmdash;Rhonda Y. Williams, author of The Politics of Public Housing: Black Women's Struggles against Urban Inequality
Review
and#160;andquot;More Than Shelter adds San Francisco to the short list of American cities that have had their public housing story told well from multiple perspectives. The book is engagingly written and offers new contexts and stories of distinctive community sagas that challenge conventional assumptions about the downward trajectory of American public housing. As such, it is another significant contribution to revisionist thinking about public housing, an urgent message at a time when government efforts to provide deep housing subsidies to low-income families continue to be under attack.andquot; andmdash;Lawrence Vale, MIT
Synopsis
By looking closely at three public housing projects in San Francisco, Amy L. Howard brings to light the dramatic measures tenants have taken to create communities that mattered to them. These stories challenge assumptions about public housing and its tenantsandmdash;and make way for a broader, more productive and inclusive vision of the public housing program in the United States.
About the Author
Amy L. Howard is executive director of the Bonner Center for Civic Engagement and associated faculty in American studies at the University of Richmond.
Table of Contents
Contents
Abbreviations
Introduction
1. andldquo;To Provide Decent, Safe, and Sanitary Housingandrdquo;: San Franciscoandrsquo;s Housing Authority
2. The Contested Mission of Valencia Gardens
3. andldquo;Peace and Prosperity Dwell among Virtuous Neighborsandrdquo;: Chinatownandrsquo;s Public Housing
4. andldquo;The Best Project in Townandrdquo;: North Beach Place
Conclusion: Looking Back, Moving Forward
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index
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